Scrapbook!
by MrGooseyMoose
Summary: Tai and Matt are on the hunt for all of the photos that are scattered about their apartment. Each photo they find comes bearing a flashback to the depicted event. Taito/Yamachi, AU.
1. A Snapshot Of Forever After

**Hey everybody, I'm back; and I come bearing a new fic!**

_* Everybody else: "Woooo about time!" *_

**What, have you missed me? =D**

_* Everybody else: "Yeeeeah, we've missed you!" *_

**Ahem...alrighty then. Once again I feel the need to apologise. Fanfiction, as amazing as it is, has taken a backseat recently; and it's going to remain that way until the summer. It's a huge shame, I know. But I'm not gonna be giving up on it anytime soon! You can expect something from me every now and then, ok? It'll just be slow work. =)**

**Now, this fic is a bit of a strange one. In short, this is where I'll place all of my short, wacky ideas for this pairing. You'll see what I mean...**

**A Snapshot of Forever After**

* * *

"What do you mean you _'don't know where they are'_?" Matt asked in disbelief, waving his arms about in the air, wildly. Sometimes, he just couldn't believe how much of a klutz his boyfriend could be. Of all the things in the world that Tai could have misplaced, why; oh _why_, did it have to be their precious collection of photos?

"What I _mean_…" Tai began, sensing the initial feelings of guilt brush against the back of his neck. "…is that I _don't know where they are_, ok? They just…they got away from me, a little."

"What, did they grow legs and run off?" The blonde asked, sarcastically. He knew the comment would rile Tai up; but sometimes, he just couldn't help himself. As expected…

"Maybe! I wasn't watching them _all _of the time, Matt!"

"Argh, you're impossible Tai!"

"…and that's why you love me." The brunette replied, smoothly, flashing his signature, toothy grin. Matt, unfortunately, couldn't help but smile back. Just a little. That didn't mean he was going to let his boyfriend off the hook, though.

"That's beside the point, and you know it. We're gonna find them – all of them – and we're gonna find somewhere safe to keep them, alright? They were all here at one point, so they can't have gone too far."

"Awww but Yamaaaaa! That takes so much effooooort!" Tai moaned, sinking lower into the soft, cushy couch that he was currently occupying.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have come to this if you'd just taken care of them in the first place. Now c'mon, get your pretty ass in gear and start searching."

"And what, exactly, are_ you_ gonna be doing?" Tai replied, rising to his feet grudgingly and stomping off towards the bedroom to begin his quest.

"I'm going to be finding somewhere to put th…" He cut off, abruptly, with a thin smile. When Tai turned back around to see why he had stopped talking, he found that his boyfriend was laid down on his chest, butt stuck up in the air, with his arm stretched out underneath the couch.

"…Matt? What are you doing?"

"Acting on a hunch. You lose _everything_ under here."

"…so?" Tai replied, defensively, as Matt rolled out a small, orange ball, swiftly followed by a shoe.

"_So_…do you know what else you might have left under here?"

"Er…" Tai started, picking up the newly revealed shoe with a grimace. He had lost the pair the very day that he'd bought them. "The other one of these?

"Nope." Matt answered, lifting himself back up to his feet with a wide grin, and a photo clasped in his hand. "I was thinking something more along the lines of…this." A moment of shock passed across Tai's face at the sight, but it was soon replaced by an enthusiastic grin.

"Damn! I look great, right?"

"…"

"C'mon, you know you love it! You're just jealous…Matt?"

"…"

"…_Matt_?" Tai attempted, again, but to no avail. Matt was long gone; trapped in a montage of chocolate ice cream, and wedding bells. Tai sighed to himself and sat back down. _This_ could take a while.

* * *

Matt reached the door to his apartment, wearing a backpack that was filled to the brim with an unreasonably large amount of ice cream for his boyfriend. Earlier that day, Tai had called him at work with an urgent request to fulfil his sudden craving. Matt had risen to the challenge, of course, and had spent the last half an hour trawling about the local shops with unrelenting vigour, in the hopes of finding Tai's favourite flavours. He'd succeeded, too. As was custom, though, the blonde was going to run an overly dramatic guilt trip for his efforts. Fair was fair. He opened the door, loudly, and strolled in, feigning fatigue to the best of his abilities.

"I'm absolutely_ exhausted_, Tai. Next time you want a life supply of ice cream, you can carry it back home your damn se…" He cut short, and dropped the bag in utter shock, causing it to split at the bottom. Tubs of various ice creams rolled out. No one paid it any attention, though. Tai was currently gawking towards the TV, absorbed in some unfamiliar show, and hadn't openly reacted to Matt's odd entrance. His cheeks, however, had reddened slightly; and he had noticeably tensed up around the shoulders.

In Tai's lap was an extremely oversized tub of ice cream. By the looks of it, he had given up on using a spoon - his hand must have proven to be the more efficient ice cream collecting tool. That didn't throw Matt, though. No. What really threw him was that the brunette was wearing a white, frilly, wedding dress.

"So…" Matt attempted, feeling utterly, positively,_ astronomically_ perplexed. Was he really expected to bring up normal conversation in a situation like this? "…ok, am I asleep Tai?"

"Nope." The brunette mumbled.

"…so what's happening, Tai?" This time there was no reply; just the sudden, panic inducing sound of crying, and of Tai's ice cream tub falling to the floor with a crash. Instinctively, Matt rushed over and took hold of the brunette's hand. "It's ok, Tai, I'm here." The reply, if there was one, was totally inaudible behind the extensive choking sounds.

They remained in that position for a few painfully drawn out minutes. Matt tried to ignore the unreasonably surreal fact that he was currently knelt down on one knee in front of a male bride.

"I'm s-sorry, Matt. I must look so s-stupid right now."

"Maybe stupid isn't the right word, Tai." Matt replied, stroking his boyfriend's hand gently. "But maybe you could tell me what this is all about? It looks like you're having a mental breakdown."

"Way to be sensitive…" Tai replied, croakily.

"I'm sorry, Tai. I'm just not sure what you want me to do here."

"I don't want you to do anything!" He screamed out, bursting into a fresh set of tears.

"Ok, ok…" Matt attempted, soothingly. "…I'm just afraid, Tai. Normally you're the one picking up after _my_ little pieces of crazy." Tai sniffled, suddenly wearing a small smile despite his current state. "I need your help here, ok? Tell me what's happened."

Tai seemed to consider Matt carefully for a moment, before he dried his eyes to the best of his ability, and replied. "O-ok, Matt. I'll talk. I just…I'm not sure it even makes s-sense, you know? Before I knew it, I was wearing this stupid thing, and eating s-stupid ice cream on the couch. And this stupid dress is itchy, too. Don't see why it was so expensive..."

"You _bought_ it?"

"Not likely. You should have seen the price tag, M-Matt. I only rented it for one day."

"But…are you sure you can give it back if it's covered in chocolate?" Matt asked, softly, pointing out the previously unnoticed stains. Tai looked ready to cry again. "Woah, it doesn't matter ok? For now, just tell me what brought this on. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense."

"O-ok…" Tai rubbed his eyes, this time with the back of his hand, before he took a deep, shaky breath, and began. "…well, I got up today after you left this morning, and sat down to watch this s-stupid show." Matt turned his head for a second, and found that a bridal show was currently playing on the T.V. "It was all about marriage, and s-stuff, and it's been going on for hours since! It started getting me all excited just watching it, y'know? With the super big cakes, and all the people d-dancing, and the two…the two…but we're…w-we…we can't…" Tai gave up and dropped his head onto Matt's shoulder, lightly. He resumed crying. "N-next thing I…I knew…I…big dress…and…ice cream…and…"

And it was at that precise moment when the hilarity of the situation hit home. Matt began chuckling quietly under his breath, at first, and over the next few seconds that chuckling became full out, 'no consideration for his distraught boyfriend', roaring laughter.

"It's not funny, Matt!"

"I…know…Tai…!" He bawled, despite himself, falling backwards onto Tai's unfinished ice cream tub with his eyes streaming. "I'm…sorry…! I can't…I can't…_help_ it!"

"Yes you can!" Tai retorted, bounding down from the couch and landing noisily on top of the blonde with retribution streaming angrily from his eyes. "Just shut up, Matt!" The pair wrestled chaotically, with Tai yelling random, nonsensical insults at his astounded partner; who, much to his own annoyance, could do nothing more than laugh incoherently in reply.

By the time they had finally ran out of energy, and by the time they had finally sat up from the floor with resigned faces, Matt's hair was covered in the chocolate ice cream that he had been unknowingly rolling in. Not that Tai was going to inform him of that fact.

"I'm sorry, Tai. I really didn't mean to laugh at you. It's just…it's so funny!"

"It is not!"

"Oh, come on Tai. If I was wearing a dress; and a wedding dress, at that, when you walked in, what do you think you'd do?" Matt asked with a knowing smile.

"I'd…I'd…" Tai thought carefully for a moment, before admitting defeat. "I'd laugh my ass off…"

"Exactly." Matt put an arm around Tai's shoulders, and sighed. "Tai, I get what you said back there. I do. And I guess I understand how you feel, too. It's hard, knowing that we can't have that title of 'married'. And I feel it too, y'know?" He ended, with a kindly grin. "But you don't see me freaking out and renting a dress, do you?"

"I guess not. Heh…" Tai sniffled, and rubbed his nose gently. "…I'm not really sure what possessed me to do it, Matt. I'm kinda starting to wish you weren't here right now, y'know?"

"It's a little late for that, Tai. Besides, you don't look half bad..."

"…really?"

"Yeah. It shows off your body pretty well..." Compliments; the sure-fire way to divert Tai's attention. "Besides, it kinda says something about you. You're daring, and…"

"…out of my mind?" Tai interrupted, almost smiling, as he looked down at himself. He seemed to be checking his body out, as if he liked what he was seeing all of a sudden.

"Yeah. In a really cool way."

"So…it's a good thing, then?"

"Yeah, Tai; so long as I don't have to pay for the dress, that is." Matt smiled, lightly rubbing Tai along the arm as he stood up.

"I think…I think we should take a picture together, Matt!"

It took a few moments for the content of that outburst to fully register in Matt's utterly confused, worn out brain. That couldn't possibly have been what he said, could it? "…did I hear that right, Tai?"

"Yeah, you heard it right! We should take a picture!" Tai jumped up, with a mischievous grin plastered across his face. "It'd make for a great memory! We can label it 'Tai's first breakdown', or 'Matt's first chocolate hair mix up', or something!" Matt's hands automatically shot to his hair; which, currently, looked to be browner than it was blonde. He looked ready to explode. "Oh, come on! I'm dressed like a bride! I don't think anyone in this room, or anyone looking at a picture of us together, is going to judge _you_ too harshly. You big drama queen…"

"D-did…" Matt began, unable to believe his ears. "…did you just call _me_ a drama queen?"

"Sure did." Tai smiled, licking Matt's hair. "You taste nice!"

"Thanks, Tai…" He replied, rolling his eyes. "Go get the camera, quickly; before I change my mind and back out of this." Tai's gasped in response, lifted his dress up by the waist so he wouldn't trip over it, and hobbled off into the bedroom as quickly as he could go. Matt almost fell to the floor with laughter just watching him. Maybe this picture _would_ come in handy, after all. Without it, he might accidently convince himself that this was all some weird, utterly out of character, dream.

Soon enough, Tai was back with his big, orange camera. He had a huge smile on his face. "Are you really enjoying this _that _much Tai?" Matt asked, laughing.

"Surprisingly…yeah, I am. This'll be so funny to show people someday!" At that moment, Matt knew that Tai was the single bravest person on Earth. He smiled, as the brunette set the timer and put the camera down in a position that would catch them fully in the shot. "Ready, Matt?"

"When you are, Tai!" He shouted, unexpectedly, lifting the shocked guy up into his arms with a big, cheesy grin across his face.

*click*

* * *

"Y'know, Tai…we kinda look like a newly wedded couple in this." Matt said, pulling out of his trance. Tai was currently laid down on the couch, nodding off. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's great…" He yawned, snuggling into a nearby cushion. "…does this mean we don't have to look for photos anymore?"

"Well, have we found them all yet?"

"…no…" Tai mumbled, sadly, sitting up from his position in defeat. "I'll get looking…but, you get moving and find something we can stick them in, ok?"

"Way ahead of ya." Matt replied, bending back down and reaching underneath the couch again. His hand landed on something new. Something flat, and hard. A book of some kind. Upon pulling it out, Matt saw that it was a crisp, hardback scrapbook. Something Tai had lost before he'd got the chance to use it, probably.

"What's that?"

"Well, I guess…" Matt replied, flicking through the many blank pages. "…this is our new photo album. Maybe we can glue the pictures into it, or something?"

"Sounds good to me…" Tai answered, dully. He was lying down on the couch, again, and had cuddled back into his favourite cushion. Matt took a deep breath, and with all the volume he could muster…

"_Tai_!"

* * *

**Well, there we have it. These guys are going to find a picture each chapter, and that picture will cause one of them to flashback to the depicted event. Should be interesting, right? Hope you had fun reading it, at any rate, and I hope you come back for more when I upload the next one! :D**

**Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought, yeah? :)**

**P.S This is dedicated to the amazing lil fanficer that is Takato The Dreamer. I'm sure he can guess why. :)**


	2. Taichi Learns To Drive

**Hey there!**

**Ahem...firstly, I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. Initially, I was very anxious when I uploaded it; but those reviews made me feel loads better. THANKS! I'm glad you liked it. :D**

**This one is a little different than the last and, quite frankly, I'm unsure of what you're gonna think of it! I'm attempting...something...that I've not really done before. It's fun to experiment, of course, but let's cross our fingers and hope that it's alright, yeah? XD**

**Oh, and you know what I've never mentioned before now? All of my fics are AU. I don't include anything 'digital' (well, aside from the occasional digi-reference) and I screw around with the characters' past experiences fairly often. Maybe that'll change someday...I don't know. But I thought that I should probably clarify that somewhere, y'know?**

**...eeeh, I'm tired...**

**Anyway, tangents aside...I hope you enjoy the latest installment, peeps! :D**

**Taichi Learns To Drive**

* * *

"Oh my God, Matt! Look!" Tai exclaimed with a gasp as he came running out of the bedroom with his hand outstretched. Sitting in his palm was a small, crinkled photo. It was yellowing around the edges. "Look how tiny we were!" He positively giggled with glee as his boyfriend took the photo from him .

"I…I can't believe you found this, Tai! I didn't even know we had it!"

"Me neither!" Tai replied, sitting down next to Matt to take another look at his new favourite picture. It showed the two of them standing together in Tai's garden. Matt was on the left, caught midway through rolling his eyes with a smile, and Tai was on the right, with an arm wrapped tightly around Matt's waist. They were both five years old. "Do you remember when this was taken?"

"How could I forget, Tai?" Matt smirked, ruffling the brunette's hair with his free hand; he was still clasping onto the photo with the other. "Ha, this was the day we met right?"

"Yeah…" Tai uttered, almost inaudibly, as he thought back to the events that had transpired that day. A smile graced his lips, as it all came racing back - faster than a speeding, plastic car.

* * *

"Yaaaaaaaay!" Tai chimed, jumping up and down with a delighted expression splashed across his face. Sitting there in his garden, all shiny and red, was a brand new, two-seater, big-boy race car. It had bright, yellow wheels; it had pretend doors that didn't really open, and it had a big, red button in the centre of the steering wheel, which made a long, squeaky sound when pushed. His dreams had finally come true.

"Well, what do you say, Tai?" Mrs Yagami asked, placing her hands on her hips in a show of pretend-impatience.

"THANK YOUUUUUU!" The small, messy haired boy squeaked in reply, as he ran towards his new toy and hopped inside. "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…"

"You have to promise not to leave the garden with it, though, ok Tai?"

"…happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…"

"Did you hear what I just said, Tai?"

"…happy birthday to me!"

"Well…" Mrs Yagami sighed to herself. "…I guess there's no problem in keeping an eye on him whilst he plays." She sat down on one of the few, plastic chairs that had been sloppily strewn about the garden, and watched her son drive around in circles. He was giggling all the while; she couldn't help but giggle, too.

Fifteen minutes soon passed by, though, and by this point she was beginning to get pretty tired. It had been a long day. To make matters worse, she simply didn't have the attention span to match that of a child with a new play-thing; especially if the child in question happened to be Tai, who flat-out refused to run out of energy. She re-positioned herself in an attempt to be more comfortable and, ever so slowly, her head lolled towards her shoulder. She fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Tai was getting bored of driving around the unreasonably limited amount of space that his garden had to offer, and so decided he should drive around in the street – like the big boy that he was. He turned the wheel to his right, pedalled as fast as he could, and opened the front gate by driving headfirst into it. The noise failed to wake up his Mom.

Upon reaching the edge of the pavement, Tai made a sharp turn and narrowly avoided driving straight into traffic. He wasn't allowed on the road, yet. His dad told him so. He remembered. With a grin, Tai drove along the pavement to the end of his street, and turned onto a new, unexplored one; humming tunelessly to himself all the while.

The brunette continued in this fashion for a few minutes. He turned onto any street that took his fancy; down any block that still looked bright, and interesting; along any path that was empty of other people. Or, at least, what he thought was empty of other people. Tai didn't count on running headlong into a boy his own age as he turned around his next corner, and he couldn't beep his horn fast enough to warn them of the oncoming collision.

"Owwwwwww!" The pale, blonde boy whined as he fell down to the floor. "You ran me over! Bully!"

"I'm sorry! Sorryyyy!" Tai jumped out of his vehicle, screaming in panic. His victim had started to cry, and was hiding his face in his knees. "Are…are you ok?"

"…"

"Dad says you shouldn't cry if you're a big boy, so I don't cry when I get hurt; I wanna be a big boy...don't you wanna be a big boy?"

"…"

"Who are…erm, I mean, what's your name?"

"…"

"Do you wanna get in my car? You can drive if you want."

"…yes." The boy answered, slowly lifting his face up. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were still wet, and there were still trail marks streaked down his face. "I mean, err…yes, please." Tai held out his hand; the boy took hold of it, and allowed himself to be lifted up.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Well, my bottom hurts now." He replied, gingerly rubbing himself on said area. He looked pretty sore. "But I'm a big boy, too…I wanna drive."

"What's your name?" Tai asked, as he watched his new friend climb into the car, and take hold of the steering wheel.

"Beep beep! I'm Matt!" He shouted, giggling. "Beep beep!"

"If you press the big button, it beeps for you!" Tai smiled, climbing into the other side of the car. It turned out there were pedals on this side, too. "And I'm Tai. Are you my friend, Matt?"

"…will you run me over again?"

"Nope. I promise!"

"Then yeah, we're friends Tai-Tai." Matt replied, as he pressed the big button that Tai had been talking about. A loud squeak pierced through the previously quiet street. "Beep beep! So where are we going?"

"Erm...let's go back to my house! You've not been there before!"

"Ok, Tai-Tai!" And so, within moments they were well on their way back to his house. "So how comes you have such a nice car? I don't have one…"

"Coz it's my birthday today. My mommy, and my dad, said I couldn't get one…but I gets one anyway. It was a sur…a surprise, I think. They knew all along!"

"Oh…it's your birthday today? I need to sing you a song, then, Tai-Tai!" He stopped pedalling, and turned to face the bewildered brunette. "Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, you look like a monkey…and you smell like one too. Wooo! Do you like it? I learnt it on my birthday, and now you've learnt it on your birthday."

"…do I really look like a monkey?" Tai asked, rather quietly.

"No, not really. Silly. It's just a song! You don't look like a monkey."

"…do I smell like one too?" Tai continued, sticking his trembling, lower lip forward in a pout.

"Let's find out!" Matt replied, leaning over to smell Tai. He started by prodding his nose into Tai's hair, before moving down to sniff his shoulder, and then back up to sniff his face. Eventually, he answered with "…nope, you smell like a Tai."

"…does a Tai smell nicer than a monkey?"

"Yeah, Tai-Tai. A Tai smells much nicer-er than a monkey!" Matt answered, before setting off again. Tai soon found his smile, and after laughing at the realisation that the blonde had just smelt him all over, he helped Matt to pedal them along. Soon enough they were speeding back into his garden.

Mrs Yagami awoke to the sound of laughter; laughter which, of course, should have belonged solely to Tai. But it didn't. Instead, there was the addition of another sound that she didn't recognise. A laughter that wasn't her son's; it was higher pitched, and lighter. Upon glanced around, she found that Tai was still in his car, and that the car was still driving in laps around the garden. Only now, Tai was accompanied by a pale, blonde haired boy – who happened to be the one driving.

"Taiiii?" She ventured, standing up and jogging over to the pair; who, naturally, sped up in the hopes of escaping. "No, don't…_Tai_! Get back here!" Solemnly, Yamato turned them around, and they drove back over to her with identical, guilty expressions. She couldn't help but laugh at them. "Who's your friend, Tai?"

"This is Matt! He's my best friend! He said I smell nicer-er than a monkey!" Tai exclaimed, excitedly, before hopping back out of the car. Matt quickly followed suit.

"Oh…" She replied, slightly lost for words. "…err, nice to meet you, Matt. Do your parents know you're here?"

"Well, my daddy once said he has a magic watch, so he always knows where I am..." Matt replied, awkwardly rubbing his feet against the floor. He wouldn't make eye contact. Mrs Yagami burst out laughing.

"Cool!" Tai butted in, smiling. "Do you have one of those, Mommy?"

"Well, I uuh…"

"Hey, are we gonna take pictures soon?" Tai interrupted, again; apparently bored of his previous question. "You said we get birthday pictures, and cake! And more birthday pictures!"

"Alright, Tai…I'll take one picture. But then we need to get your friend back home." She replied, walking inside to find her camera. It was an old, hefty sized one; but it still worked well. "Do you guys want a picture together, then?" She asked when she returned.

"Yeeeeah!" They answered in synchrony, jumping beside one and other.

"Ok, then. But first, Tai, what was the best present you got today?" Mrs Yagami asked, obviously expecting him to say 'the big boy race car'. What she didn't expect to hear, was…

"Matt! He's my best friend, and he's my best present ever!" Tai shouted joyfully, wrapping an arm around Matt's waist. The blonde rolled his eyes at the remark, but couldn't help himself from grinning; Tai was the best present he'd ever received, too.

*Click*

* * *

"Y'know, Matt..." Tai began, pulling back out of his semi-trance; Matt was currently sticking the small, exceptionally sentimental photo into their scrapbook. "…even after all these years, you're still the best present I've ever had."

"Thanks, Tai-Tai." Matt replied with a smile, moving over to wrap an arm around the brunette. Their eyes met. "...but that's not gonna get you out of finding the rest of those pictures, y'know."

"But..." Tai began, abruptly cutting off at the daring expression on his boyfriends face. He sighed, and got to his feet again. To try and argue would result in a losing battle...

* * *

**Aww, poor guy...**

**Anyways, I hope you all liked that! If not, then I'm sorry. I can't say that I was very confident about this anyway haha. If you did happen to like it for whatever reason, though, then please leave a review and tell me what it is you liked! Reviews are like glucose based drinks - they make me happy. :P**

**All the best, everyone!**

***falls asleep***


	3. Soccer And Sunshine

**Hey, everyone, I'm back with the third chapter of Scrapbook! :D**

**...I guess I don't have anything else to say haha. Ah, well. XD**

**Get reading! :)**

**Soccer and sunshine**

* * *

"Ok, ok! I'm almost finished, Tai! Just cross your legs, or something!"

"But I'm already crossing my legs, I can't do it twice!" Tai whined, smacking his head against the bathroom door. "Lemme in, lemme in, lemme in!"

"I'll only be a moment!"

"But you're not going fast enough!"

"Yeah, well it's not _my _fault you only ever need to go when_ I_ do!"

"…yes it is! Lemme in, lemme in, lemme_ in_!"

"Quiet down, I'm done ok? I'm done! Just hold it in for one minute." Matt sighed, as he quickly zipped up his jeans and flushed. He moved to go and wash his hands, too, but was abruptly frozen in his tracks when he noticed something sticking out from behind the toilet. Something small; something rectangular; something that looked very much like…

"Hey, a photo!" Matt smiled.

"What? Did you just say a photo?" Tai gasped, fearfully. "Ooooh no! Don't you dare, Matt! Don't you dare! Open this door _right_ now! I'm not joking, Matt! Lemme in! I gotta go!"

But, alas, it was hopeless. Matt was already immersed in a distant, childhood memory, sensing nothing of the present but the slight, nostalgic tingle running along his left leg.

* * *

It was a typical summer's day in Odaiba. Matt and his friends; Tai, Sora, TK, Kari, Izzy, Joe and Mimi, were strolling about underneath the roasting sun, bored out of their minds. Once again, they didn't have anything fun to do.

"I've got an idea!" Tai pitched in after their fifth awkward lap of the park, smiling. "Why don't we play-"

"-we're not playing soccer, Tai." Sora interrupted with a sigh. "That's all we ever play."

"But…"

"I have to agree with Sora, here." Izzy said, nodding. "Soccer_ is_ getting fairly repetitive."

"Oh, come on guys!" Tai replied, agitated by his group's lack of enthusiasm towards his favourite pass time. "It's not like we have anything better to do. Look at us! We're walking around in circles here! We may as well…"

"Stop it, Tai; you can't just bully everyone into doing what you wanna do all the time!" Matt interjected, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Well, do you have any better ideas, genius?" Tai retorted, snarling. "At least_ I'm_ contributing!"

"Contributing? More like dictating, goggle brains." Matt said, rolling his eyes.

"Well maybe if someone came up with a better idea, I wouldn't _have_ to dictate!" Tai yelled back, anxiously fiddling with the aforementioned goggles that were sitting on his head.

"Well maybe everyone is so damn intimidated by your dictating that they're too afraid to pitch ideas!"

"Geez, quiet down you two..." Joe interrupted, standing between the pair. He placed his thumb and forefinger on his nose in his typical 'I'm dealing with children' pose. "There's no need to get so worked up."

"Yeah, it's ok Matt. I guess it's not that much of a problem…" Sora soothed, rubbing the blonde on the back. "...besides, it's a sunny day. It'll be good for us to run around for a bit, right?"

"Hmph…fine, I'll play; but I don't wanna be on_ his_ team." Matt answered, folding his arms.

"Good, coz I don't _want_ you on my team; I wanna see your face when I destroy you." Tai replied, folding his own arms.

"…does anyone have a ball?" Izzy asked.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I'll go get one from my place!" Tai grinned, perked up again. "I'll be back soon!" The group sighed simultaneously as Tai sprinted off towards his apartment. As expected, it didn't take him long to return, and when he did he rushed straight over to Kari with a huge grin on his face.

"I know you don't like to play, so I brought you your camera! This way you can take pictures of me as _I_ play." He winked, much to Kari's amusement.

"Hmph…" Matt thought to himself, eyes glaring. "Just because he's pretty, he thinks the whole damn world revolves around him..."

"I'm just kidding; take pictures of everyone else, too." Tai smiled, before noticing Matt's expression and turning sour. "Except for Matt."

"Good, I don't want pictures anyway!" Matt replied, turning his head away and walking off.

"Don't be angry, Matt." TK smiled, hugging him around the waist. "I'm sure Tai doesn't mean it."

Matt rolled his eyes, again.

"Oh, come on guys! We've got a ball now, so let's play!" Sora exclaimed, attempting to shed some light hearted spirit onto the situation.

"I don't want to play…" Mimi replied, stretching her arms up in the air with a huge smile. "…I want to _sunbathe_!"

"Fine. Then you and Kari can sit on the side whilst _we_ all play." Tai replied, before taking the ball to the centre of the football pitch. "Who wants to be on my team?"

"Sure, I'll go on your team. It just means I don't have to do as much…" Joe answered, walking over to stand behind Tai.

"Izzy, how about you?"

"I'm not sure that it would be in your best interest to have me on your team if you intend to win, Tai. But if you insist…"

"Oh, don't be such a downer. You're fine."

"That leaves me, Matt and TK." Sora said, smiling. "Let's have a nice game, everyone. Matt, do you want to kick off?"

"…sure." Matt answered, walking to the centre to stand opposite Tai. They stared at each other for a few moments. "Good luck."

"Yeah, you too; break a leg out there." Tai said, resulting in a half smile on Yamato's part, before Tai continued with "Really, I mean it. Break a leg out there." They scowled angrily at each other.

A whistle blew from the side lines, courtesy of Kari, and Matt kicked the ball backwards towards Sora. The match began.

Perhaps Matt was fuelled by some unholy grudge, or perhaps Tai was simply hindered by feelings of guilt for the day's events so far, but for the first time in ever, Tai's team wasn't winning. In fact, both teams seemed perfectly equal. There hadn't been a single goal yet.

"Hey, Matt!" Tai shouted when they accidently moved next to each other, both waiting for their team-mates to pass them the ball. "I've been thinking. If you spent as much time practicing your soccer skills as you do styling your hair on a morning, then maybe you'd stand a chance here."

"Shut up, Tai!"

"C'mon, you've gotta admit Matt; you spend _way_ too much time on your hair."

"Yeah, well I may take the time to style my hair, but at least it doesn't defy gravity of its own accord! Your hair looks like it's trying to run away from you!"

"Wha…!" Tai gasped, touching his hair. "My hair is _not_ trying to run away from me!"

"Heads up, Tai!" Izzy shouted, as the ball came soaring in Tai's direction. Unfortunately, though, Tai didn't pay it any attention, and instead it rolled straight past him.

"Those stupid goggles must be cutting off the air to your brain, Tai. You completely missed the ball!"

"Yeah, well you didn't get it either!" Tai retorted, staring back into Matt's cold, blue eyes. They kept it up for a few more seconds before they both darted back into the game, growling with frustration.

A few more minutes went by, with a couple more attempts at scoring from both teams. Still, though, neither succeeded in scoring a goal.

For the umpteenth time, Matt had made his way back to the centre of the pitch, ball in front of him, and had started to advance at an increased pace. He passed by Joe without a problem, and with another quick flick of the ball he had made his way around Izzy. Tai was up ahead, though, steaming like a bull. Matt wasn't intimidated.

"I'm gonna show that self-righteous superstar show-off who's boss!" Matt thought, angrily. He sprinted forward, moving as fast as he could. Tai sprinted forward, too; smirking a particularly obnoxious smirk. They drew closer, and closer, neither backing down. Tai pulled his leg back and kicked forward with all his strength. Matt kicked the ball forward as hard as he could.

*SMASH*

Tai's foot missed the ball, and instead collided with the blonde's shin bone. Matt fell to the ground with a resounding yelp.

Tai fell on top him.

The ball rolled into the goal.

Tai and Matt's lips connected.

Silence ensued.

"…um, Tai?" Matt eventually attempted, sounding fairly calm considering that his best-friend-turned-mortal-enemy was currently kissing him, and was showing no signs of stopping.

"…uh-huh?" Tai replied, nervously running a hand against the immaculate, blonde hair that he had previously been criticising.

"…I think…you did something…to my…leg." Matt continued, trying his best to make coherent noise through their mashed together lips. He began to fiddle with Tai's goggles, playfully.

"…uh-huh…" Tai replied, not really paying attention.

They didn't speak anymore after that. They just continued kissing each other, right there in the football pitch, in front of everyone. They remained oblivious to the strange angle that Yamato's leg was currently bent in, just as they remained oblivious to the fact that Kari was currently aiming the camera in their direction, a glowing smile radiating from her face.

*Click*

* * *

When Matt drifted back into reality he could hear little more than what sounded like a wounded cat crying from outside.

"Tai!" He cried, hurriedly opening the door to let the brunette in. Immediately, Tai sprinted inside and fell onto his boyfriend, knocking them both to the floor.

"I gotta goooo!" Tai whined, climbing back to his feet before rushing over to the toilet. Matt remained where he was.

"…at least he didn't break my leg this time."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, everyone! If you would be so kind...please tell me what you thought of this chapter! :D**

**Oh, and one more thing. This fic is dedicated to one of my personal favourite fanficcers, Kerukeru, as he offered me the idea of doing a 'first kiss' chapter. I hope this lived up to expectations, Keru.**

**All the best everyone! :D**


	4. Cupcakes, Costumes and Candy Canes

**Hello there everybody! **

**First of all, may I just stop and say: isn't Cupcakes, Costumes and Candy Canes just the sweetest damn piece of alliteration you've ever SEEN?**

**...no?**

**Oh. Well, anyway. Moving along.**

**I actually had other plans for this chapter. See, I've got drafts of both an idea offered to me by Kerukeru and an idea offered to me by Psycho Weasel, in my fanfiction folder, and one of them was supposed to come next. However, I'm yet to actually write either one of them out in such a way that I'm happy. So for now you're just going to have to settle for this instead. What this is, exactly, is a bit of a compilation chapter, filled with all of these little bits and pieces of old taito ideas that I've had scattered around my computer for the past year. **

**Eh...**

**You'll understand when you get reading. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Taiii!" Matt called out, his hands cupped around his mouth. "If you're sleeping on the couch again I'm going to kick your scrawny little...hey!"

"Yours is...scrawnier." Tai yawned. His eyes were closed and his head was resting against his favourite cushion.

"Get up."

"I'm on my lunch break."

"Lunch break?"

"Yeah." He nodded slightly. "Which reminds me, can you make me lunch?"

"You can make your own lunch."

"But I want something good and I can only cook omelettes. And ketchup."

"Well, you'll just have to try."

"Remember what happened last time you said that to me?" Tai opened his eyelids, shifted slightly where he lay, and held out a hand. A picture was clamped between his fingers. "Look."

Matt's took the picture and looked at it, a memory flowing back to him like the sudden scent of home fresh baking. "Oh..."

"See?"

"..."

Tai yawned. "At this rate I'll never get lunch..."

* * *

"I baked cupcakes. All on my own. See?" Tai grinned, offering a plate of baked brown treats to his boyfriend. They were mismatched in size and bulging haphazardly.

Matt tilted his head at them and frowned. "Uh..."

"What?"

"They...look like they're in pain."

"What?" The brunet gasped. "That's just the sign of a good cupcake!"

"I'm not so sure it is." Matt tentatively prodded at one of them with a finger and it began to deflate. They watched it curiously for a few seconds. "Huh..."

"That's not supposed to happen...is it?" Tai asked, his face deflating alongside his chocolaty creation.

"If it is, then I've been baking wrongly for years."

Tai frowned. "I shouldn't be allowed to cook."

"Don't act so melodramatic, Tai." Matt sighed. "You fail once, and then you try again till you get it right."

His features lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"So I should try again?

"Sure."

"And you'll help me?"

"Uh..." Matt halted, about to decline but frozen by that puppy dog pout and that beautiful pair of gleaming eyes. He smiled. "...of course I will."

* * *

"I...I'd forgotten about that." He scratched his head and laughed. "But that's totally different. This time I'm not telling you to bake. Just make yourself a sandwich or something."

"Fine." Tai opened his eyes again and sat up. "By the way, I found you a whole crop of them."

Matt's eyebrows rose. "Photos?"

"What else?" Tai laughed. He pulled out another photo from beneath his bottom. "I wanted to surprise you. This was in the bedroom."

Matt fixed his gaze on the picture and was immediately lost again.

* * *

"Tai? What are you...?"

"I'm dressing up." The brunet grinned as he closed the bedroom door behind him, hopping up and down on the tips of his padded toes like an overly excited child. Matt got to his feet.

"Why?"

"Because it's fun to dress up."

"But why are you dressed up as...that?"

"What's wrong with Pikachu?" He gasped, waggling his bolt shaped tail from side to side.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Well, nothing. I guess. I just think the whole concept of Pokémon is kinda stupid. Couldn't you have chosen to cosplay a worthwhile anime instead?"

"Pokémon _is_ a worthwhile anime. It's my favourite!"

"What's so great about it?"

"What isn't so great about it?"

"Oh, I don't know." Matt laughed. "The fact that the main character is a ten year old child who's sent on an adventure into a world that he doesn't understand, with nothing but violent and unpredictable monsters to keep him safe."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's totally unrealistic." Matt flailed his hands above his head. "He wouldn't survive five minutes."

"It doesn't have to be realistic, Matt. I can still relate to the characters!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Plus, Pikachu is cute."

"Is that all?"

"No! There's also this guy called Gary in the show. He's the main character's rival-"

"I know who he is."

"-and he's just _too_ cool." His eyes lingered on Matt for a moment.

"You're not winning me over."

"Fine." Tai grinned a particularly mischievous grin. "We'll just have to get you involved too. That way you'll like it more."

"How do you think you're gonna do that?" Matt scoffed.

"By dressing you up too. You can be my...master, if you want." He winked.

Matt pressed a hand against his face as Tai handed him a bag filled with some sort of ungodly outfit. "Boy, this is going to make for a weird story..."

* * *

Matt looked up from the picture of himself and Tai - the latter dressed up in a large, padded Pikachu outfit, the former dressed up as the Pokemon trainer Ash, backwards cap and all – and set his eyes upon his boyfriend. He was staring intently at two more photos.

"I also found these..." He said.

"More photos?"

"Yeah..." Tai began. "...and you know what, Matt? I'm starting to realise something."

"What, that if you keep your photos safe they won't disappear again?"

"No." He suddenly beamed. "That we play dress up way too often."

"What do you mean?"

Tai grinned and offered the pair of photos to Matt. "Check these out."

The blonde did as he was told and looked at the two pictures. He gasped. "Why did we even...t-take these pictures?"

"Beats me." Tai shrugged. "I mean, I look good and all, but..."

"..."

"Matt?"

"..."

"Geez, and you say _I_ have a short attention span."

* * *

"Shouldn't we be, like, the same thing?" Matt ventured, toeing the floor awkwardly with the tip of his leather boot.

"What do you mean Yama?"

"I just think that..." He adjusted his hat. "...since you're Santa, I should be a Christmas elf or something. Right? Not a pirate."

"Why?"

"...just forget it." Matt crossed his arms and huffed.

"What's the matter? Don't you like the outfits I picked out?" He tilted his head, and the fluffy white bobble atop his hat flopped down and tapped him against his cheek. "They were a bargain!"

"Yeah, whatever..." Matt mumbled, toying with the flimsy sheath at his waist. "Let's just get on with this."

"Great!" Tai grinned cheerily. "Get ye booty over 'ere me sexy wench!"

"I'm the pirate, Tai. Not you. You're Santa."

"Oh…ho ho ho!"

Matt sighed.

Tai remained apparently oblivious. "Lay across my lap, you naughty pirate, and tell me all the bad things that you've done."

"Shouldn't I_ sit_ on your lap if you're Santa?"

"No ho ho!"

"And why am I telling you all of the bad things I've done? Are you a confessional, too?"

"Shut up, or you don't get to lick my candy cane. Stupid pirate."

"I don't like candy canes."

"YOU DON'T LIKE CANDY CANES? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

"Way to keep in character."

"Sorry..." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "I've got something to put up your stocking."

"…"

"It's warm and it's filling, and it's perfect for a cold Christmas night out at sea."

"Way to kill the romance Tai." He rubbed a pair of fingers against his temples and moaned. "This sucks."

"Well, it was your idea to role play!

"Because I thought you were going to be competent at it, numbskull."

"Well at least I'm trying..." He mumbled, looking almost downtrodden.

Matt exhaled softly. "You're right, Tai. I didn't mean...I'm sorry. Look, I'll try, it's just that-"

"Ho ho hoooo!"

"-I don't know what to say. It's harder to be a sexy pirate than it is to be a sexy Santa."

"There was so much wrong with that sentence."

Matt laughed. "Arr me matey, ye can be so hard on me..."

"Ho, ho! Would you rather I was hard in you, little boy?"

"Did you just call me...little boy?"

"Ho." He answered.

"…I don't really like this sex talk."

"Just go with it."

"Ok…I mean, arrr. I do want something hard...in me."

"Then come over here. I have a present for you – but it's not wrapped."

Matt halted. "You're not gonna wear protection?"

"It's my birthday."

"No it isn't!"

"Well, I'm making up for my last birthday."

"No you're not."

"Arrr!"

"I'm the pirate, Tai."

"Oh yeah. Ho ho hooooo!"

"You're hopeless."

"No. I'm just merry, Matty. Now cuddle up on top of me and nibble at my snowy white beard."

"That's just gross."

"I thought it was sexy..."

"You thought that was _sexy_?"

"Yeah. It sounded like porn. Right?"

"...Tai?"

"Ho?" Tai enquired.

"What do you think porn is?"

"Something to do with sex. I don't know, I never really got around to watching it..."

"That's just great."

"Stop getting out of character or you'll have nothing under your tree on Christmas morning."

"Ok, ok. So, would you me to lick your, arr, candy cane now?"

"I thought you didn't like them?"

"I lied. How could anybody not like candy canes?"

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." Tai grinned, and glomped Matt onto the bed. "Now, I hope you're ready. Because here I come you sexy pirate, you!"

"...if it wasn't for that hot body of yours I'd be out of here."

* * *

"Tai." Matt said, flicking his hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I totally agree with you."

Tai looked surprised. "Oh?"

"...we should never, ever play dress up again."

"Ho."

"What did you say?" Matt flashed his eyes fearfully.

"I said yeah."

"Oh."

Tai giggled into his hands and left the room, presumably to make lunch. Matt curled up where he sat and closed his eyes. He had to repress that whole role play scenario. Again.

* * *

**Lol, I'm not even going to explain my motivations behind that last memory. I just hope it made you smile.**

**All the best everybody! :D**

**PS I know I should be working on Fanfiction Island but...but...**


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